The Truth
by Jamie1
Summary: This is my Harry/Hermione story. Nothing to do with Hermione's Secret. A little sad on Ron's part. But it's nice. :)


# The Truth

  
  


### By Jamie   
Over the past several weeks Harry had noticed a considerable difference in his opinion of Hermione. He had begun to notice how her face lit up every time she smiled. He had also wanted to spend as much time with her as possible, even though he already spent almost all of the day with her. He had even switched from Divination to Arithmancy - which he had actually begun to enjoy. Ron had been pretty mad about his, but ended up switching over too.   
One night, while in their dormitory, Harry, Ron, Dean, Seamus, and Neville were discussing certain topics that were beginning to concern them in their teens. The topic of "Girls" happened to be one of them.   
"Do any of you like any girls?" Harry asked, desperately wanting to know whether he was alone or not.  
"Oh yeah!" replied all four of them.  
"Really?" asked Harry rather taken aback, "Who?"  
"Lavender." replied Seamus.  
"Parvati." said Dean.  
"Ginny." Neville said, avoiding Ron's eyes.  
"Hermione." Ron said.  
"_Hermione_?" Harry said, a rush of anger spread throughout his entire body.  
"Yeah, Hermione." said Ron beginning to blush, "Is there a problem with that?"  
Yes! Of course their is! I like Hermione! Harry thought, but he simply replied, "No, just a bit . . . surprising."  
"Oh, okay." Ron said, rather relieved, "So, Neville, my _sister_?" After talking for awhile about the four girls mentioned, Ron noticed that Harry was being awfully quiet.  
"Hey, Harry, who do you like?" he asked.  
Before he had known Ron liked her, Harry was fully ready to confess his feelings about Hermione, but now something inside him told him he'd better not tell the truth. The first girl who came to mind was Cho Chang, a girl a year older than Harry who he had liked in his fourth year at Hogwarts.  
"Er . . . Cho Chang." he said nervously.  
"Oh! The Ravenclaw seeker?" Dean exclaimed.  
"Yeah, her."  
The conversation had gone on for two hours after that, when they finally decided to go to bed. Harry, however, lay awake. He had no clue that Ron liked Hermione too. How was he going to act around him now? And he had to get to her first. If he didn't act fast, Ron was going to get her. But how was he supposed to tell her how he felt? What if she didn't like him back? It would ruin their friendship. He would be too embarrassed to be around her if she turned him down . . . .   
  
Harry woke up the next morning with a feeling of determination. He was going to tell Hermione today, even if it killed him. He got out of bed and put on his clothes. He noticed Ron wasn't in bed, figuring he was down at breakfast, Harry went down to meet up with him, only to find that neither Ron nor Hermione were there. Harry's insides seemed to dissolve - where were they? He ran up to Dean and Seamus.  
"Where's Ron?" he asked them quickly.  
"Oh, he's telling Hermione." Dean said, smiling.  
"Telling her what?" he asked, although he already knew the answer. Ron was telling her how he felt, he had beaten Harry.  
"Telling her he likes her!" Seamus replied, "Remember last night?"  
"Yeah, I remember." Harry said with a faint note of loathing in his voice. "Listen, I've got to go."  
"Wait, Harry," Seamus said suspiciously, "Where are you going? Is there something you didn't tell us last night?"  
"Erm, I'll tell you later." he said quickly, "Right now I have to go." And at that Harry ran out the doors of the hall, without a clue as to where Ron and Hermione were. He met Fred and George right outside the castle doors.  
"Have you two seen Ron and Hermione?" he asked them.  
"Yeah, there over there." Fred replied, pointing to the far side of the lake, where Harry could see two small figures stand next to a bush.  
He began to run, run as fast as he could. Then he stopped. What was he going to do? Just interrupt them? After realizing what he was planning to do was crazy, he walked sulkily back to the Gryffindor Tower. Once he reached the Fat Lady and said the password ("Peppermint Humbug"), he went up to his dormitory and laid down on his bed.  
Ron had probably won her over by now. He had won her over and Harry couldn't do anything about it. As the saying goes, "You snooze, you lose." He was just going to have to painfully bear through it. He would sit there and act normal while watching them hug and kiss. Hermione smiling, not for Harry, but for Ron. Hatred spread through Harry's veins like a wild fire. He stood up and walked to the window. He looked to the spot where he had seen the two earlier. But now all he saw was Hermione. Sitting, throwing pebbles into the deep blue water. Had she turned him down? Harry was about to run out there to find out for himself, when Ron walked into the room, an incomprehensible look upon his face.  
"Hey." Harry said blankly.  
"I told her." Ron replied, with no tone in his voice, "I told Hermione that I liked her."  
"What did she say?" Harry asked, eagerly. He figured if she had said she liked him back, Ron wouldn't be up here.  
"She said she had to think for a little bit." he said, still no tone in his voice. "What do you reckon that means?"  
"I dunno." he replied, he was on the verge of telling Ron that he had lied last night, that he loved Hermione too, but then he thought the better of it. He would tell her, then tell Ron.  
Hermione stayed out by the lake all day. She didn't even come in for lunch. Ron had sat by the window almost all day watching her, waiting for her to come in. By sundown she still hadn't come in and Ron was now debating whether he should go get her. Harry had told him that she obviously wanted to be by herself and probably was still out there for a reason.   
  
Once Ron had unmistakably fallen asleep, Harry got out of bed, still in his robes and went down to the Common room. He reached the top of the stairs and what he saw made his heart leap. Next to the fire, he saw Hermione, by herself. He walked quietly, but quickly down the staircase.  
"Nice to see you." Harry said once he had reached her. She jumped, looked at him, and clutched her chest.  
"Oh, gosh Harry! You scared me!" Hermione said weakly.  
"Sorry." he replied, sitting down next to her. "What's up?"  
Hermione stared into the fire, with a look of great distress in her eyes. "Harry, Ron told me he was in love with me today."  
"Yeah," Harry said harshly, "So I've heard."  
"Oh, he told you?" she said, turning to face him. Harry nodded. Hermione sighed.  
"What am I going to do?" she said, obviously desperate for some advice. "I guess I like him, he's not that bad. But I love somebody else. Much more than him."  
"Who?" Harry asked eagerly, even though he partially knew that she wasn't going to tell him.  
"I'm not saying." she replied firmly.   
She stood up and began to pace back and forth in front of the fire. Harry noticed how beautiful her profile was, her robes wrapped tightly around her chest and her slender body, her perfect nose connecting to her perfect lips. He was going to do it, somehow he was going to, he had to.  
"Hermione?" he said, standing up.  
She stopped and turned to him, her eyes wide. "Yes, Harry?"  
"Can I kiss you?" he asked her quietly, but distinctively.  
"What?" Hermione replied, astonished.  
"I said, 'Can I kiss you?'" Harry repeated, courage beginning to fill him, he walked up to her and grasped her arms, "I love you Hermione, I know you're my friend, and if you don't feel the same way, it will ruin everything, but if I don't tell you how I feel I may end up regretting it for the rest of my life.   
"I see you everyday, and you look so beautiful. Your smile, your eyes. Everything about you. And I love your personality, how you're so passionate about everything you do. You're funny and you make me laugh. There isn't a night these past couple of months when I haven't thought of you, thought of kissing you. I'd just imagine, we'd be all alone, like we are now. I would wrap my arms around your small, slender waist, and I would look into your eyes. Our lips would be so close to touching that there wouldn't even be a measurement small enough to calculate the distance. I would pull you closer to me and tell you how much I want to kiss you."   
Harry had done all of those actions up until then, he could feel Hermione breathing faster, as he felt his own heart speed up.   
"Then I -I would kiss you, kiss you with all of my heart. Savoring the feeling of your soft and tender lips, finally pressed against mine. So I ask you, Hermione Granger, can I kiss you?"  
"Yes." she consented in the faintest of all whispers.  
And at that, Harry kissed her, and it was just like nothing in the world mattered to him anymore, except him, right there with Hermione. Her warm lips pressed against his. He slid his hand up behind her warm neck, to where her hair began, and pulled her ever closer with his other. She had put her arms around his neck and one of her hands was now on the back of his head. They kissed for awhile longer, and then began to slow down. And then they pulled apart. Harry looked into her eyes once again and smiled. She smiled back.  
"You were the one that was in the back of my mind all day." she said weakly, her arms still around his neck. Harry smiled even wider and hugged her. Then he felt her gasp, and he pulled apart.   
"What's wrong?" he looked at her, but she wasn't looking at him, she was staring, horrified, behind him.  
Harry slowly pivoted to see behind him and gasped, just as Hermione had, for what he saw at the the top of the stairs made his stomach drop. It was Ron, with a look of utter disbelief on his face.  



End file.
